


The Fire Lady’s Fan

by vtn



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-13
Updated: 2013-08-13
Packaged: 2017-12-23 09:16:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/924602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vtn/pseuds/vtn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>June goes to the palace of the Fire Lord seeking work. Traveling alongside Zuko on an unexpected assignment, she begins to gain a respect for the young Fire Lord, and the two of them grow closer together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fire Lady’s Fan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shujinkakusama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shujinkakusama/gifts).



> This pairing was so intriguing and fun to write. I really enjoyed exploring the small interactions between June and Zuko in canon and thinking about how they might develop further. I hope you enjoy this story!
> 
> This story is based on the show alone and ignores comics, web extras, and other peripheral canon. I've seen the wiki and possibly some other places refer to Nyla as male, but Nyla's sex isn't mentioned in the show so I made her female.
> 
> Many thanks to [Anon] for a very helpful beta read.

For June, times were rough.

Sure, all the celebrations were nice, and it was good to not have to watch your back in case of military aggression. But the problem with living in a nation at peace, especially with a spineless leader who was all about ushering in a new era of harmony and friendship and open passage between the nations of the world and blah blah blah, was that lately there weren’t too many people calling in a bounty hunter. Sure, she could pick up some jobs for the police, petty crime kind of stuff, but June had both a pesky gambling addiction and a sizable shirshu to feed and that wasn’t going to cut it.

So now here she was, in perhaps the most embarrassing moment of her life. She hoped no one she knew could see her. 

Nyla huffed and whined. June patted her on the nose; she wouldn’t even be able to look her shirshu in the eyes, if Nyla had any.

“Don’t worry Nyla,” she said, “This should be quick and painless. He’s a pushover anyway.” It was mostly to reassure herself.

\---

The palace looked different than it had in Ozai’s days. More festive. Better, if she had to admit it. Everything was in good repair.

And there was a long line of people waiting for an audience with the Fire Lord, just like her. 

June had no patience for that. She hopped on Nyla’s back and leaped to the front of the line. One growl from Nyla and the old lady who was the first petitioner at the door looked like she nearly lost control of her bowels. And June was inside the palace.

Fire Lord Zuko stood before a simple low table in his receiving room, drinking from a cup of tea. It smelled good. June hadn’t had fine tea in a long time. 

“Would you care for a cup of--” Zuko’s eyes went wide. “June? What are you doing here?” He almost looked nervous, his gaze shifting back and forth. She dismounted from Nyla and stroked the shirshu’s nose until she lay on the ground. June nearly felt like retching as she went down to her knees. But what did she have to fear? She knew Zuko was more scared of her than she was of him.

“I’m here to petition the Fire Lord,” she said, looked him right in the eyes, and grinned. “And I think His Royal Whininess owes me one.”

Zuko cleared his throat. “In that case, let’s have some tea and we’ll talk.” June could see that his hands were shaking somewhat as he poured the tea - whether it was her or Nyla’s obvious presence that scared him, she wasn’t sure. It made her roll her eyes.

The two of them knelt at the table and drank. The tea tasted every bit as good as it smelled, rich and smoky with a hint of tartness that lingered in her mouth. 

“Here’s my deal.” She leaned her elbows on the table, determined to get it all out as fast as she could before her embarrassment could stall her. “There’s no work for me in your new kingdom. I want to be a palace guard. You’ve seen my work. You know Nyla can track down anyone if there’s a scent trail to follow. And you know I’m a good fighter. So what do you say?”

Zuko sat back and sipped his tea. He was infuriatingly calm. He reminded her of a less badass version of his uncle Iroh.

Or so she thought. Because then he looked her in the eye, and his gaze was full of fear--fear and longing.

“You would be a great palace guard, I agree. But actually,” he said slowly, “There is someone I need help finding.”

\---

It amused June to walk through those lavish chambers in her rough-worn leather boots and working clothes, with her tattoos and heavy eyeliner and Nyla in tow. It was like blowing a raspberry to all of the pompous rich people who thought she could never be like them. Today June walked in the company of kings.

The object was in a beautifully carved wooden box, stashed away in one of the many disused rooms of the palace.

“My mother’s fan.” He showed it to her. The fabric was painted with a scene of two dragons crossing each other in the sky, the clouds streaming fiery red behind them. The painting was so intricate that June could see the individual scales of the dragons. 火 was painted in the center in shiny gold. “There must still be some of her scent on it. She carried it with her everywhere.” He turned the fan over in his hands. “She used to hold me behind the fan, in her lap. She said that she carried it to keep her true feelings hidden - she said that was a quality of a leader, to be able to show a calm lake on the outside and have a fire within.”

He placed the fan down. 

“So you see,” he said, “I’m hoping that you can find her.”

June raised an eyebrow. “Lady Ursa’s dead. Everyone knows that,” she said. 

“I had thought so for a long time too. But lately I’ve learned a few things,” he explained. “Now give this to your shirshu,” he said, louder. “I need to know.”

“At your service,” June said, a little sarcastically, not enjoying the degree to which she was being ordered around. She took the fan, trying her best to be gentle. It looked oddly out of place in her large and callused hand. She laid it in front of Nyla. The shirshu sniffed carefully, and then huffed and whined. She stroked Nyla’s face. 

“Well?” Zuko asked.

“She’s got a scent.”

\---

It was late, so June and Nyla spent the night, dining on fiery noodle soup with a flavorful broth and sleeping in comfort at the palace (June in an enormous bed covered in soft silk pillows and Nyla curled up on the thick rug at the foot). 

They left at early morning. Zuko joined June on Nyla’s back, gripping her waist while she held the reins and kept the shirshu steady, unused as she was to carrying a second rider. June was a little surprised that Zuko wanted to ride with her. She had expected that a noble like him would ride on a palanquin or something. He gained a few points in her book, with that.

They traveled into the mountainous region. June always loved the smells there, especially before the day got hot: fresh leaves and trees, the faint scorched scent from when the dragons had reduced this forest to ashes, before people had learned to hunt and defend themselves.

At midday, they paused briefly to unwrap their lunch, sandwiches of pickled carrots and radishes and sweet, hot peppers with five-spiced newt-chicken meat on a crispy bread roll. Nyla got scraps of meat from the kitchen that Zuko singed for her with his firebending. 

“Do you know anything about where we’re going?” Zuko asked between bites of sandwich.

“Nope,” June answered him cheerily as the shirshu dug into her meal. “I haven’t really been up into the mountains too much. I mean, fugitives like to run up this way, but I usually catch them before they get that far.” 

“So somebody might head this way if they really didn’t want to be found,” Zuko said cautiously.

“They might.”

The two of them continued up. Zuko started to get short of breath before the other two, but soon even Nyla got slow and June had to crack her whip a few times to keep her going. 

“Doesn’t that hurt it?” Zuko asked.

“I’m not actually hitting her, dummy,” June explained. “She just hears the sound and it makes her go faster. I trained her by throwing her treats when I cracked the whip.”

“Oh, her,” Zuko corrected himself. “Not it.”

“Yep, she’s a girl shirshu, aren’t you Nyla? You’re a pretty girl.” June scratched the beast on the head, and Nyla snorted contentedly. 

Nyla got more excited as the incline became steeper and she had to hop from rock to rock to continue climbing. The air was surprisingly damper here, and moss was growing on the tops of some of the rocks, making it harder to find footholds.

And when some of the rocks crumbled under Nyla’s feet, she started to slip down the rock face. June cried out and tried to hold her back with the reins, and Zuko pulled along with her, hopping off the back of the shirshu onto a rock. 

“Take my hand,” Zuko commanded, and June reached out so he could pull her up onto a rock too. He was stronger than he looked, and he was able to drag her up easily. Nyla was whining loudly and scrabbling as the two of them held tightly onto the reins, keeping her from rolling down the hill.

But she was still slipping, and the two of them were sliding forward toward the edge.

“Hold on tight,” Zuko said, “I’m going to let go with one hand.” June nodded, and Zuko raised one arm to the sky. He shot signal flares from his fingertips, the fire arcing up into the sky. June bit her lip, hoping, hoping...

Moments later, another pair of hands joined theirs, and then another, and Nyla was easily pulled back up onto the cliff.

There were two women standing on the rock with them, dressed in traditional finery but lithe with faces worn by the high mountain winds. A group of them, dressed similarly, were standing at the top, looking expectantly down upon June, Zuko, and Nyla. 

“Bring the shirshu up,” a loud, clear voice rang out over the mountainside. A woman with short gray hair had come to the front of the crowd. She gestured to a stairway, cut into the rock face where June hadn’t seen it before. 

The three of them clambered up delicately, followed by the two women from the mountain who were watching carefully to make sure Nyla’s big feet didn’t slip. The shirshu was twitching and sniffing erratically, turning her snout from one woman to the next. Zuko looked tired; June took hold of his hand to help him up the narrow steps. His hand was shaking, and she could feel his pulse racing in his wrist.

“She must be here,” he breathed next to her, anxious. “She has to. What do you think she’ll think of me?” He took in a gasping breath. “Would she be proud? June, what if she doesn’t even remember me?”

“Chill, dude,” she said, squeezing his hand. “You’re starting to annoy me.”

At the top of the cliff was a tiny village, many of the houses built so low into the rock that it was no wonder they hadn’t spotted them from below. It could get hot up there in the sun, and building houses into the caves would probably keep the inhabitants cool. The people there were all women - June wondered briefly where the men were, if they were on another nearby mountaintop or if this was a place where women could find safe haven.

“What brings you here, friends?” asked the oldest woman. “I am Lan.” Nyla ran up to Lan and sniffed her, almost jumping up and down on her feet. “Can you get this beast to heel?” 

June whistled and patted her thigh. “Nyla! Here.” The shirshu looked almost disappointed as she returned to June’s side.

“Is she your mom?” June asked, her voice low.

“No! ...I mean, I don’t think so.” Zuko looked concerned. He turned to Lan. “I’m Prince--I mean, I’m Fire Lord Zuko.” A collective gasp rose up from the villagers. 

Lan bowed, but she winked at June as she lowered her head. “Welcome, Fire Lord, to Silk Spring.” 

Zuko returned her bow. “I think someone I care about might be here,” he said. “Is there anyone here named Ursa?” he asked.

“I don’t know anyone by that name, I’m afraid,” said Lan.

Zuko looked a little disappointed, but shrugged his shoulders. “She might go by a different name here. Can I come meet everyone?”

“I’m sure we’d all be honored to have a visit from the Fire Lord, wouldn’t we, Bing?” she turned to a thin woman next to her with soft thick bangs that brushed her eyebrows, who smiled shyly and nodded. 

It was getting late, and June’s stomach was rumbling audibly, so Lan invited them into the house that she shared with Bing, and after a quick (but tasty) dinner of steamed meat buns and mountain mushrooms, the two of them split up. June didn’t particularly feel like going to every house in the village and pretending to be someone important, so while Zuko did the rounds she took Nyla with her and got directions from someone to a teahouse where she could catch her breath. Then she went wandering through the village. The Whether it was Nyla’s presence or June’s style of dress or both, something kept the villagers hanging back in doorways, looking at her curiously but too timid to talk to her. For a while she enjoyed the way it made her feel powerful, but eventually it started to get on her nerves.

She sighed.

Then Nyla started pawing and snorting. She’d found the scent again, and it was strong.

\---

Inside the hut was a lively buzz of activity as young woman worked and chatted, cutting wood and sewing and stretching silk and painting.

They were working on exquisite fans, decorated as lavishly and delicately as the one that had belonged to Lady Ursa.

Nyla reared and squealed, and June calmed her down and patted her, feeding her treats of dried meat and leftover mushrooms until she was quiet. She had found the source of the smell. It was here in Silk Spring, high on the mountain, where these women’s careful hands had cut and sewn and stretched and painted the Fire Lady’s fan.

“If I described a particular fan,” she asked one of the workers who was taking a break in a plush chair by the window, “Could you tell me who had made it?”

“Of course,” the woman said. 

“It had two amazing dragons in front of a sunset, and the character for fire painted in gold in the middle.”

“That is Lady Ursa’s fan,” a voice said from somewhere in the room. “I made it.” The woman who stood up was older than Lan, and her hands were rough with calluses. Her speech was slow and measured. “I am Wen Ling. I have not painted dragons for anyone but the royal family. And the Lady Ursa was the only one to request a sunset.”

“She loved her fan,” said June, finding it a little hard to speak. “I guess it’s you the Fire Lord came here to see.”

Wen Ling looked shocked and fearful for a moment. “Ozai is here?”

“No,” said June. “His son.”

There was a knock on the door.

“I’m Fire Lord Zuko,” Zuko said, entering with Lan at his side. He started. “June! What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Prince Whiny,” June said, waving at him. “Nyla found the lady who made your fan.”

“Lord Zuko, is it?” asked Wen Ling. She did not bow. “I am pleased to hear that the Lady Ursa cared for the fan I made. Please give my regards to your uncle, if he lives still.” She held up what looked like a pai sho tile. “It is good to meet you.”

Zuko mumbled, “It’s good to meet you too. She loved that fan very much. Thank you.” He bowed to Wen Ling, snapping back up quickly. Then he turned to June, and fled.

\---

June could tell Zuko was upset. He paced, his hands occasionally clenching into fists, not speaking, and finally sighed and hung his head.

Zuko had grown. She had expected him to get angry, to fume and shout and order her around like he knew better than she did -- but he was no longer the high-strung, petulant child she had known when she was commissioned to seek the Water Tribe girl. But nor was he only the confident, battle-ready leader she had seen when she had led him to his uncle.

He was a leader, and a ruler. But he was also a young man who was missing his mother.

“Zuko,” June said, hesitantly. Being comforting was not her strong suit. 

“You called me by my name,” he said, looking a little stunned.

June shrugged. 

“I lost my parents too,” she said. She glanced over at Nyla. Nyla, who was the only family she’d had for a long time. “I was just a little kid.”

Zuko stared at her for a second. Then he shook his head. “Does it ever get better?” he asked loudly, his voice near breaking.

“Not really,” June admitted. “I mean, do I look like the picture of well-adjusted?”

Zuko laughed, a little bitterly. “I have a responsibility to my subjects now. I need them to see that I’m strong, and not afraid or lonely.”

“Eh.” June looked over at Nyla, who snorted and shook her nose. “I’d rather know that my Fire Lord is a normal person.” Suddenly, it felt odd to hear herself say ‘my Fire Lord’. Almost like... She flushed. 

“Normal, huh. I thought I was whiny...” he muttered. 

“Hey, you seem to have grown a pair since I first decided to call you that. I can’t help it if the name stuck.”

“A pair of what?” Zuko asked. June cracked up and then he grimaced once he realized what she’d meant. “Now you’re just making me uncomfortable,” he said, folding his arms. 

June leered at him, moving closer to him, trying to make him laugh. “I’m good at that.” 

Zuko just rolled his eyes in response. “This isn’t helping.”

“No,” June agreed. “Let’s set up camp and sleep here for the night. We can head back to the palace in the morning.”

The activity of making camp helped distract them for a little while. They unpacked their bedrolls and rolled them out on the soft ground, and Zuko lit a small fire with some forest brush to warm them.

June sat down, Nyla curling around her. 

“Can I sit with you?” Zuko asked, after a moment, in that same near-broken voice from before.

“Sure, whatever.” 

Zuko walked over to Nyla and sat down next to June, patting the shirshu’s head. Nyla sniffed and snorted but didn’t shift away from Zuko’s touch; she let the Fire Lord stroke her fur until Zuko had calmed down. 

After a while June became uncomfortably aware of Zuko’s body close to hers. His skin was warm, and the arm that pressed against her shoulder was well-muscled. She remembered how iron-strong his grip had been earlier. And she bit her lip to keep from giggling; by now almost any guy in this situation would have probably put his arm around her and started flirting. But those guys were bounty hunters and off-duty cops and mobsters and petty criminals - not the supreme ruler of the nation.

(Those guys weren’t as cute as Fire Lord Zuko either.)

“How long have you had her?” Zuko asked, gesturing to Nyla.

“A while.” Zuko looked at her like he was expecting more. People didn’t ask for the story often. So she told him. “I was a kid, maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wandered into my neighborhood and was stumbling around confused - there are a lot of smells back where I came from, people cooking twenty different things and drinking tea and smoking, and the smells of wet concrete and bricks and raw meat and pulp before it got made into paper, and obviously the trash and the sewers.... Anyway the other kids were all throwing rocks at her, which basically just annoyed her. I told them they were wasting time and I’d kill her for them and cook her.” Nyla whined, and June laughed and thumped the shirshu’s side. “I was going to do it, too. The meat would have kept us fed for weeks. But when the other kids got out of the way she started nuzzling my face, and well, what can you do?”

June leaned back into Nyla’s soft fur. “Next time I wanted to hunt, I did it on the back of a shirshu. With Nyla’s speed and sense of smell, it’s a piece of cake. So instead of weeks, she kept me fed for a lifetime.”

“You remind me of a friend of mine,” Zuko said.

“You mean the _Avatar_?” June asked, a little incredulously. She remembered the short airbender kid with his enormous sky bison. But the idea that she reminded someone of the Avatar was...

“Yeah, that’s him.” Zuko smiled. “I mean, he doesn’t eat meat and he’s a pacifist, and he definitely doesn’t wear a skull on his head but...you’re both willing to go a long way to help others.” 

June laughed. “Good to hear you saying something positive for once.” She lightly shoved him. Being here in the tent with Nyla reminded her of the way she used to sleep when she was a kid, her and her friends all piled together like baby dragon-cats. It couldn’t have been anything Zuko ever experienced.

“Hey, I can be positive when I want to.” He stuck out his tongue.

“Fine. Say something nice about Nyla.”

“She’s soft,” he said, burying his hand in the shirshu’s fur, “and warm.” He frowned. “She smells, though.”

“Good effort.” June laughed. 

“And you - you, you’re, nice, and warm too,” Zuko stammered, blushing and fiddling with his hands. “And pretty.”

“You’re too cute.” She gave him her biggest grin. “Your pick up lines could use some work though.” He looked away, but she grabbed onto him and kissed him full on the mouth. “Easier to just be direct.”

Zuko’s mouth hung open for a few moments, and then he returned her wide smile. “Never mind being a palace guard. When we get back to the capital, I’m making you an adviser.” He tangled a hand in her hair and kissed her back. The smoke of the roasted tea still lingered on his tongue. June couldn’t get enough of it.

“I wonder if all of you tastes this good,” she said, smirking and licking her lips once she’d pulled away. Zuko went white as a sheet and then bright red. “Oh, inexperienced, are we? I hope you weren’t planning on getting much sleep tonight.”

“I--I mean--I--no...yes, but if you...” 

June threw her head back and laughed. “Shut up and kiss me again.” Nyla gave a long whine and huff as if to say, _seriously_? and turned around to face away from Zuko as he pressed his mouth to June’s.

It turned out that indeed, it wasn’t just Zuko’s lips that were delicious to kiss. But despite June’s warnings, the two of them fell asleep after only a short while, exhausted and out of breath.

\---

They bade a fond farewell to the women of Silk Spring in the late morning, though not before buying dried mushrooms, rolls of fabric, and of course, several fans for the ladies of Zuko’s court. June even bought herself one, with a picture of the mountain painted on it. 

And then they returned to the palace. It was easier going downhill, and they even dozed off a little on Nyla’s back, Zuko’s head on June’s shoulder. The closeness of their bodies felt easy and comfortable now, rather than being simple necessity.

June was surprised to find that Zuko had not been joking when he offered her a position as adviser. 

“So flirting skills are the qualification now?” she said. “I hope you don’t make me your romantic relations adviser, because I’d quit.”

Zuko laughed and shook his head. “No. It’s because your advice is good. And because you aren’t like the other advisers that I have now. You know what it’s like to really live in the city, not just in a palace your whole life.” He looked over at Nyla and added sheepishly, “Plus, we’ve got plenty of room for Nyla to have somewhere to sleep.”

“Sounds good to me, Whiny,” June said, and slapped Zuko on the back.

\---

Living in the palace took some adjustment, it was true. June never had to worry about being hungry anymore, or having a steady income, but when she dressed and spoke the way she was used to, everyone stared at her strangely.

But she grew to like those stares. It was a constant reminder that she had a place here, because the fact that she was different meant she offered a perspective no one else shared. 

She drank tea with the Fire Lord often. The new respect she had found for him gradually deepened into a strong friendship. He listened carefully to her advice and when they disagreed, he did so with respect.

Nyla slept in June’s bedroom, most nights. She felt more comfortable when she could hear the shirshu’s steady breathing nearby. And every night before they retired, she looked at the wall above the headboard of her bed, where she had mounted two fans of the finest mountain silk. One with a painting of a mountain, and one with a pair of dragons crossing each other with a backdrop of a brilliant sunset.

**Author's Note:**

> As you can probably tell, I do a lot of writing while hungry. Have some more info/visual aids re: the dishes that inspired me. Like the show, I borrowed from several different cultures of East and Southeast Asia.  
> 
> 
>   * _The tea tasted every bit as good as it smelled, rich and smoky with a hint of tartness that lingered in her mouth_ \- could be any kind of smoked black tea, but I'm most familiar with [lapsang souchong](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapsang_souchong) ([photo](http://www.yayateahouse.co.nz/images/Organic-Lapsang-Souchong.jpg)). I figured the Fire Nation would apply fire to all things including tea.  
> 
>   * _fiery noodle soup with a flavorful broth_ \- [laksa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laksa) ([photo](http://whitewarthog.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/laksa1.jpg))  
> 
>   * _sandwiches of pickled carrots and radishes and sweet, hot peppers with five-spiced newt-chicken meat on a crispy bread roll_ \- [banh mi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banh_mi) sandwiches ([photo](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/2299001134_8b870ebc9f.jpg))  
> 
>   * _steamed meat buns_ \- [baozi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baozi)/[nikuman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikuman) ([photo](http://rasamalaysia.com/images/baozi/jiaozi7.jpg))  
> 
> 

> 
> ...and now I'm hungry again. Is it lunch time yet? ;)
> 
> 火, the character painted on the titular fan, means "fire".


End file.
